The Coming Tide
by Lord Izanagi
Summary: After a mysterious alien shipwreck, built by an unknown race, is uncovered in the Badlands by a team of pony archaeologists, some of the most deadly and virulent species the galaxy has ever known are inadvertently unleashed. What will survive, what will succumb...and most importantly, what will become of ponykind?
1. Scientific Curiousity

They could scarcely see the large alien object at first. The dust and ash of the region was in particularly high concentrations within this locality. The pesky particles billowed around everywhere, causing a thin film of grit and grime to form on the edges of the exploratory team's goggles

Most of them had special wrappings around their hooves, both to protect them from particularly hot sections of terrain common in the Badlands, and to help them keep their goggle lenses clear.

This tedious process of moving, pausing to wipe one's eyepieces, then resuming movement had been repeating on and off for several hours, until at last it finally paid off. The dust storm settled within the inactive caldera the ponies were currently situated. The Badlands were finally rewarding the group for their diligent march with a detailed glimpse of their quarry.

"It's about friggin time we find that alien slag heap! This brimstone stuff is starting to really irritate my feathers!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed irritably under her hooded brown cloak, trudging alongside her friends through the volcanic sands as they approached the structure. "Couldn't we have just taken sky chariots here?"

Rainbow was answered by a groan of annoyance from one of the unicorns at the front of their procession. "One word, Rainbow Dash. _Dragons._".

On the mare's back, a purple-scaled young dragon chuckled as he craned his head to look at her, his face pulled into a impish grin. "Twilight's right, Rainbow. Not every dragon is charming and harmless like me." Being a dragon, Spike's body was well adapted to the harsh conditions of the region, and didn't truly need equipment.

"And not to mention adorable too!" Rarity cooed, as she kept pace with Twilight. Unlike most of the others, Rarity was not donning anything beyond an arguably over-the-top version of everyone else's cloaks. Her own shield spell ensured that no invasive particles could get caught in her mane, coat, or eyes.

Spike seemed as if he were about to slide off Twilight's back, smitten as he was. Muttering, Rainbow Dash rolled her violet eyes beneath her goggles. To Rarity's credit, she _was_ working as hard as she could to expand her shield spell over her friends, reducing the numbers of times that they had to stop and brush their goggles clear.

"Besides," Twilight continued, "Celestia and Daring Do want to keep this little discovery here a secret. A squadron of chariots would have almost definitely caught unwanted attention, and Equestria simply isn't prepared for groundbreaking proof that we aren't alone in the universe."

"Yeah, well whatever's inside better be worth our time. Maybe E.T. left behind some gold or diamonds, now that would make my day. Imagine all the cool flying gear I could buy with that!"

"Or all the parts of Sweet Apple Acres we could fix up." Applejack interjected behind Rainbow.

"And the parties and desserts!" Pinkie Pie added with a pleasant voice and a grin at Applejack's side. "Or instead, maybe we'll find a humongous refrigerator full of pudding! Or, even better, cupcakes!"

From Rainbow Dash's right, Fluttershy said, "Umm, Pinkie Pie, I don't think aliens would necessarily know what those even are. Well, that's my opinion anyway." Her soft voice was almost lost in the wind that swept through the caldera. "Different animals have different diets, especially when they're from very separate, very different habitats."

Pinkie Pie frowned slightly with skepticism. With her one-size-too-big polarized goggles, and the single lock of curly pink mane hanging visibly under her hood, she slightly resembled some weird species of disk jockey, or perhaps an eccentric inventor.

"_Pfft._ C'mon Fluttershy, what type of smart creature around hasn't heard of a cupcake? Everypony loves cupcakes!"

"Actually, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy's got a point. Whomever left this spaceship here could have eaten anything, evolved in anyway imaginable, and arrived from who-knows what kind of environment and planet." Twilight proclaimed.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me all too crazy to just waltz in there now, darling." Rarity remarked, keeping her eyes focused on their destination.

"Huh. Well besides, treasure and alien 'cuisine' aren't the real potential things of value here, anyway." Twilight smirked confidently under the shadow of her hood as she trotted. "It's knowledge, girls. We just might be making history with what we'll find in there."

Pausing briefly to remove their goggles and peer at one another, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie simultaneously murmured, "Eggheads..." If Twilight had heard them, she did not indicate it.

On her back, Spike grinned as if to say, 'tell me about it, I live with her'.

Staying quiet for a short awhile as they neared the site, the seven friends paused to take in the alien structure.

Precise to Twilight's words, the anomaly in the ashen cliff face of the caldera wall, was indeed a crashed alien starship. From their perspective, the group could see what they could readily identify as thruster or propulsion systems of some kind, as well as several pieces of debris, namely hull plating.

The ship's bow was buried deep into the rock, hidden from view. Her hull was a dull-silver or grey color, almost matching that of the terrain around it, were it not for the artificially smooth surface.

In terms of shape, the mysterious vessel almost resembled a beached orca. The stern ended in a fin-like dorsal protrusion above the housing for the propulsion systems, and the visible superstructure curved in on itself gracefully in an almost organic fashion as one's eyes neared the direction of the bow.

For the mares and the dragon, the craft was straight out of an Equestrian science fiction flick.

"Look at that! Even in such a state of disrepair, this ship has such grace!" Rarity remarked, gazing at the craft in wonder, an expression Twilight, Spike, and the others shared.

Rainbow Dash however, was the least impressed, waving the wreck off with a flick of her foreleg. "Oh, pshaw! Looks like an oversized tuna to me."

"Come on, I see Daring Do and her team's base camp. Let's get over there!" Twilight said.

"You know, one good thing about this whole expedition...at least I get to meet Equestria's greatest treasure hunter and adventurer in person! Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to squee as she followed the others.

Picking up the pace, the group galloped onwards. Much to everyone's relief, the sand was barely to the tops of their hooves now.

Daring Do's camp was a rather casual affair in the shadow of the alien creation cast by the midday sun. A half-dozen yurts-a type of tent designed to keep out dust-were clustered around one large tent, which was the current destination.

All around the camp, bustling bands of archaeologists, workers, geologists, and scholars, greeted the seven newcomers enthusiastically. Most of their faces and bodies were obscured by cloaks, muzzle wrappings, and goggles of similar fashions. The friends inquired of them as to where the pegasus adventurer could be found. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be the largest of the camp's structures.

The central yurt was roughly the size of a circus tent, and the entrance glowed from the large number of electric lights within. The light glare was almost blinding at first.

"Erm, Miss Daring Do? It's me Twilight Sparkle. My friends and I have arrived to assist you with exploring the alien derelict for Celestia." Twilight and the others wearing goggles had to adjust or remove them to adapt their eyes. Unfortunately, the goggle-less could only shield their eyes with their arms or forelegs.

"Ah yes, please come in. That wind must be driving you all nuts." A suave, cultured voice greeted back from somewhere in the room. The tent interior itself was full of work surfaces, examining tables, shovels, bookshelves, and seating, among other utilitarian items and archaeological paraphernalia.

When her eyes had finally adjusted, Twilight quickly scanned the room for the source of the adventurer's voice. Twilight found it in the form of a pegasus, whose coat was the same dusty golden brown of her and the others' wind cloaks.

Daring Do turned around from something she had been examining to meet her new guests in person. Bearing a noticeable resemblance to Rainbow Dash, Daring Do's mane and tail were a silvery black, and her violet eyes glowed with an inner tenacity and sense of adventure, that words alone would have trouble expressing.

Her ensemble consisted of an olive-colored buttoned-up khaki shirt, and a beige safari hat decorated with olive trim.

"If you haven't received the welcome wagon already from region herself, then let me be the first to say, welcome to the Badlands, Equestria's hottest tourist destination."

Spike hopped off Twilight's back and chuckled slightly, while Pinkie Pie suddenly burst out into a fit of furious giggling. Twilight and Rainbow Dash lifted their eyebrows at her, as the others sat back around various points near the entrance, watching Pinkie's theatrics. Daring Do similarly watched Pinkie Pie roll across the heavily rug-laden floor, her mouth in a confused 'O' shape.

"Thanks for the kind welcome, miss Do." Rainbow Dash replied finally.

Daring Do snapped back to attention and smiled. "Please, we're not a bunch of snobs sipping tea around here, well not me anyway. Just call me Daring."

Rainbow Dash looked as if she were about to faint at those last four words. She squeaked in reply, which merited a raised eyebrow from the pegasus adventurer.

Twilight returned Daring Do's smile and averted her gaze from Pinkie Pie. "Well then, Daring. I see you were just scrutinizing something, what exactly might it be if you don't mind me asking?" Twilight inquired curiously.

"Ooh, is it treasure? Please tell me its treasure of some kind!" Rainbow Dash added.

Still smiling, Daring Do took a step to the side and picked up a cylindrical object from the table. She held the thing in her hoof for all to see. "Not gemstones, I'm afraid. However, it's got to be something significant, of that, I am certain."

Rainbow frowned slightly in disappointment.

"May I?" Twilight said. Daring Do nodded and the unicorn summarily levitated the object out in front of her. The canister was made out of a transparent compound, either a type of glass, or something analogous to it. "This appears to be some kind of container, obviously."

Twilight flipped the cylinder over, and something moved around inside. By now, Pinkie Pie had long since ceased her antics, and both her and the others had come close to examine the object as well. Pinkie oohed-and awed as the strange contents flowed back and forth, like sand in an hourglass.

"Full of...a white-grey powder. What in the world might that be for?" Rarity added with perplexed curiosity.

"How strange." Fluttershy remarked.

"Where was this stuff discovered, ma'am? Inside the alien spaceship itself?" Applejack inquired.

Daring Do nodded to her. "The central chamber, actually. This stuff is everywhere in there." She motioned one of her wings towards another table nearby, which was covered end to end by neat rows of over a dozen more of the alien containers. "There has to be at least several thousand more we haven't moved out yet."

Pinkie Pie was unable to contain her patience any longer. "Twilight!" The unicorn turned to her with a brow raised. "Can we go see the spaceship now? Oh can we, can we huh? Please?"

"I could give them a quick look-see in the excavation site." Daring Do said. "There's no real danger, the ship appears to be of sturdy construction, despite its age."

This information was evidently sufficient enough for Twilight. "Hmm, I don't see the harm in it then. Why not?" Pinkie flashed Twilight a grin, and Daring Do playfully put her hat on Pinkie Pie's head, much to Rainbow's slight annoyance. "You all go on ahead, if you don't mind Daring, I'll stay here for awhile first and examine this powder. Spike, you mind staying here to help out?"

Spike groaned in disappointment, but nodded, joining her. Daring shrugged and retrieved her hat from Pinkie Pie as they made their way out. "Alright, suit yourself. We'll see you two inside later then."

"Have fun Spike!" Rarity called out. The dragon waved longingly at her as they all left.

While the ponies trotted further and further away from the central tent, Twilight heard Rainbow Dash's now faint voice ask, "Have you guys found anything else besides a bunch of old, weird jars inside the wreck?"

"Well, I guess will just have to see when we're all inside now, won't we?" Daring Do replied.

Now alone in the tent save for Spike and a few lingering teams of scientists, Twilight pick the cylindrical container up and wrapped up a few of its fellows in her lavender aura, before setting them all down on an empty artifact examination table.

"Spike, turn on that microscope for me, will you?"

"At your command, your highness." Spike grumbled, fumbling with the device's power button.

With the electronic microscope handy, Twilight carefully extracted a small sample of the powder onto a glass slide and viewed it at various magnifications. "Fascinating." She said to nopony in particular. "These appear to be nothing more than simple strands of primitive organic molecules, completely inert. Hmm, yet very fragile."

Glass snapped slightly, as Twilight accidentally zoomed in too far and cracked the slide. Picking it up in her telekinesis, a few rogue shards of the glass nicked her on the hoof, drawing a tiny amount of blood. "Ah, brother!" She groaned in frustration and disposed of the broken slide, then stepped away from the microscope.

"Such finesse, Professor Sparkle!" Spike jeered.

"_Not_ funny, Spike." Twilight quickly healed the scratches, then absentmindedly rubbed at her muzzle thoughtfully. "There we go. Now, what could these mysterious beings have needed desiccated organic powder for? Does this stuff even _do_ anything?"

Spike shrugged, having no theories of his own at the moment. A scientist near her shrugged as well. "Our understanding of this substance is next to zero, miss Sparkle. As far as we're concerned, the powder is nothing more than a scientific curiosity."

The statement only left more questions than answers in Twilight's mind, and her rubbing became more insistent. These questions, simply had to be answered soon, or else they would nag at her constantly for months afterwards. Recalling the time she had been tardy with a friendship report last year, Twilight would not allow such an occurrence of that type again.

"Has the powder been tested on a living creature yet?" Twilight said finally. The scientist seemed surprised by the suddenness of her inquiry.

"Uhh, well no, Miss. Given the unknown nature of the material, we're hesitant to do anything with it until more information is uncovered regarding its true nature."

Twilight's ears flattened on her head, and her neutral, curious expression sank into a scowl without warning. "Have you _rookies_ even tried checking any records aboard the ship? I'm fairly sure an advanced race of aliens wouldn't have been carrying cargo like this aboard their vessel without data on what it was, what it did, and what it was for."

Spike smirked slightly at the clueless-looking scientist. "She has a point with that, ya know."

This was turning out to be a bad afternoon for the scientist. "We have tried accessing their machines, Twilight Sparkle, but the um...the encryption..." He held up both hooves and bent them to form invisible quotations in the air. "We simply can't find a way around them yet."

Impatiently, Twilight sighed and resumed observation of the powder, still rubbing vigorously at her muzzle and chin, as if dealing with an itch. "Well, we all have to start somewhere. Princess Celestia left it up to me and whoever I brought with to assist you guys in learning more about these mysterious aliens and their ship. I'm not reporting back with nothing but some powder that for all we know does absolutely nothing!"

Twilight concluded by declaring, "Bring me something to inject this sample into. A small mammal, preferably. I'm not willing to put it into a pony yet. And have someone talk to Daring Do later about getting some of these canisters shipped to labs in Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and Canterlot. The more ponies we have working to ascertain this strange powder's secrets, the better."

"Oh, of course Miss Sparkle. I'll uh, I'll get right on it."

"Now if you'll all excuse me, I'll be joining my friends in exploring the spacecraft now. Come on Spike." Twilight replied, quickly putting her hood back on and donning her goggles.

"Coming."

Once the duo were out of earshot, the unicorn scientist turned to his four colleagues, who had watched the entire conversation. His face had a bemused expression. "Is it just me, or did Sparkle start having an abrupt change in behavior _after_ she made contact with that powder sample?"

They all shrugged nervously, before returning to their study of a small piece of alien metal plating. The first scientist rubbed at his mane and shrugged as well, returning his attention to his own work. "Meh. Probably just my imagination anyway."


	2. Xenoarchaeology

"Watch your step now, everyone. I may have said she was of sturdy construction, but this ship is still _unbelievably_ ancient." Daring Do cautioned as the six prepared to venture inside the alien wreck.

The entrance was a large, perfectly rectangular opening on the side of the hull. The ponies had navigated a length of catwalks and scaffolding to reach it, given the vessel's immense height. In all, the visible portion of the craft stood around at least four stories tall.

Everyone stood in place and gawked quietly for several seconds.

"So, how ancient exactly?" Pinkie Pie inquired. "One thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?" She started bouncing, anticipating a guessing game in the making. "Ooh, I know! Is it a_million_ years?"

"My archaeologists aren't sure exactly, Miss Pie. The best we've been able to triangulate is anywhere in the frame of five hundred thousand to five million years old." Daring Do finally replied, running a hoof inquisitively over the metal frame of the entrance.

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Darn, I nearly had it right!"

This merited a friendly chuckle from the pegasus adventurer. "Close enough." Daring Do said, patting Pinkie's shoulder.

"This ship in some ways is like Princess Celestia." Rarity remarked suddenly.

"How so?" said Applejack.

Rarity scanned the surfaces she could see from vantage point, as well as the exterior. "Well, it just seems so larger than life, what with its incredible age and thickened mystique."

"Yeah, I hear ya on the larger than life part." Applejack agreed, looking at the exterior from her point of view.

Being the first of the group to intrepidly set her hoof forward, Rainbow Dash ventured further inside. What greeted her eyes was a long and gloomy hallway, illuminated only by the welcoming gleam of portable spotlights and lanterns. Further on, lantern-based illumination was augmented by the faint bluish glow of alien light sources that symmetrically lined the floors and upper bulkhead walls.

Rainbow put a hoof to her lips and whistled. "Anyone home in there?" The only response she received was her own echo, to her slight discomfort.

Daring Do chuckled. "Nobody's been in here since dawn, we all have the place to ourselves."

"Umm, who's going in first?" Fluttershy asked.

"Erm, after you." Pinkie Pie said to Applejack.

Applejack shook her head. "Oh no, no! It would be rude for me to go in first! How 'bout you sugarcube?" She turned her green eyes on Fluttershy, who retreated under her mane.

"N...n..no thanks."

"Aww man, I can't believe you three are afraid of a _hallway!_ So it's a little gloomy, it's not like a bunch of monsters are lying in wait inside or something! Ya darn scaredy cats!" Rainbow Dash jeered, her bravado growing.

Daring Do watched their exchanges with a hint of amusement. "Why don't _you_ go in then, Rainbow Dash? I've already been in there at least seven times, so I know what to expect."

For Rainbow, this was enough. "Alright, I'll take point then." She trotted inside, and one by one the others followed her. "Here..here we go."

The metal felt strange on Rainbow Dash's hooves. Even through the hoof wrappings, she could sense an unnatural cold radiating from the plating, which sent sharp daggers of chill through her lower legs. The others noticed the temperature change as well.

"What on earth? Did we just find an alien portal linking the darn infernal Badlands to the Frozen North? Horse feathers!" Applejack muttered.

Pinkie Pie got some of the worst of it, shivering uncontrollably as she went on. "D...d..do you g..guys suppose this p..place needs a Winter Wrap...Up? Huh?"

"More like a giant furnace! It's never been this cold in the past." Daring Do said. "I'll have to get the engineers to get in here sometime and punch holes in the ship's dorsal structure, and cut windows into the sides."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at the prospect of managing to cut holes in such a massive structure, while Daring continued. "That way, the top decks will get some sunshine, and the sides will get that warm magma-heated air trickling in whenever the ash storms die down."

"It would also cut back on our electricity bill." Daring Do added jokingly.

While everyone continued onward, bantering about the interior environment and temperature, one of the party was trailing far behind.

Fluttershy was even more effected than even Pinkie Pie. The cold of the metal was like an impassable wall. Every time she tried to take another step further inside, she let out an involuntary squeak. Her friend's shapes were quickly disappearing up ahead. Without them, the metallic corridor was as silent as a tomb.

The pegasus wondered whether she should call out to them or keep trying to catch up. Fluttershy did not have enough time to decide. Something made a sound behind her.

Whatever it was, it touched her back and almost made her jump out of her own coat. "Fluttershy, what are you doing standing around here?"

It was just Twilight and Spike. Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat, more from relief than fear. "Are you okay?" Spike inquired, his eyes widened.

Five seconds past before Fluttershy finally found her own voice. "Oh, I'm fine I, I guess. It's just the atmosphere of this place, it doesn't seem very safe at all."

"C'mon Fluttershy. You'll be fine, me and Spike will look after you. I'm sure whatever built this ship might have just preferred cold environments, nothing to fret over."

"But it's so cold in here, I couldn't even keep up with the girls."

"Look, tell you what, I'll cast a cloak of warmth spell over you. How does that sound?"

Fluttershy seemed to agree with the idea, a strong part of her still wanted to explore the ship and learn about its builders. "Okay, I guess."

"Good." Twilight itched slightly at her chin, then ignited her horn. For a brief moment, a red magical shell winked into existence around Fluttershy's body, before it became invisible. "Let's go catch up!"

The two ponies, with Spike on Twilight's back, galloped onwards to catch up with their friends. Going several feet, Twilight and company came at an intersection. Luckily for them, one of the two forks was sealed off. The alien door's controls glowed red, and a crudely hand-painted sign, obviously placed there by one of the dig crews, read _'restricted area-Engineering Bay currently unsafe'_

The other fork had its door opened, and a welcoming green light hung above them, set into the crown of the doorjamb. Following Twilight, Fluttershy found another hand-painted panel sign, this one with the words: _'To Elevator Shafts, Bridge, and Communications'._

"They must be on the bridge, Twilight." Fluttershy said, keeping pace.

"Sounds like where I would start too, let's hurry up then."

As they went, Spike took note of the architecture. "Say, Twilight, these hallways and doors are pretty huge! Do you think these were _big_ aliens who built this stuff?"

"I don't know Spike. That would be a reasonable hypothesis based on the observable evidence we currently have available. Very good." Twilight replied. Spike turned around to look at Fluttershy and beamed.

"I think the builders most have been bipedal. These doors could only be opened by somepony standing on their hind legs and reaching for the buttons with fingers." Fluttershy said, partially lost in thought now that the cold was no longer effecting her.

"Whoa, you mean like me?" Spike said, astonished at the possibility.

Fluttershy smiled sweetly. "Yes, but much bigger, Spike." The blue alien lighting on the ceiling above her cast her face in a slight glow, causing her eyes to radiate and twinkle in the almost otherworldly gloom.

"Alright, we're at the vessel's bridge." Twilight declared, bringing the trio to a halt.

"How do you know, Professor Psychic?" Spike quipped.

"Because, the sign says so!" Twilight snapped back, nearly causing the dragon to fall off her back. Both Spike and Fluttershy looked at her fearfully.

Realizing what she had done, Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry you two, I just don't know what's come over me!" She itched at her muzzle fiercely. "I haven't been feeling right for almost half an hour now, maybe I'm just dehydrated from all this walking."

Fluttershy's fear changed to worry. "Let's hurry up and go talk to Daring Do about getting you some water then. If you think you're too sick to explore with us, then it wouldn't do at all to have you limping around and suffering!"

"If you need us to get you to the first aid tent back at camp, just say so!" Spike added.

Twilight wasn't willing to let some flu bug or head cold get in the way of potentially making the greatest discovery in the history of ponykind. "Really you guys, I'm fine. Just a little bit of water and I should be good to go!" She gave Fluttershy the best smile she could muster.

Fluttershy seemed only partially convinced, but nevertheless chose to believe her friend. She advanced ahead of the hesitant unicorn. The door to the bridge opened up for her, and they all entered.

Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, and the others noticed them in an instant. They were all clustered around a bank of control consoles that lay at the far end of the room. It was situated at the nose of the alien ship, and a single curving window above the consoles gave a view of nothing but ashen rock. Tables around the room and nooks in the walls held devices and instruments whose true functions or purpose the ponies could only hint at.

Massive pilot's chairs, each one larger than two ponies combined, rotated frantically as Rainbow rushed frantically past them towards Fluttershy. "What the heck were you doing back there? We were worried we _lost_ you!"

"It was too cold, so I stayed towards the entrance." Fluttershy murmured back. Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding, then finally noticed Twilight and Spike.

"Hey guys. You've missed some interesting stuff, even if it is for...well, eggheads." She darted back towards one of the chairs, still spinning, and caught it still with her foreleg. "Look at the size of these things! The E.T.'s must have been giants!"

Spike threw his hands in the air, jumping off Twilight's back. "That's what I think too! The more time I spend in here, the more I want to know what they must look like!"

"Perhaps _this_, might shed a bit more light on mystery, darling!" Rarity proclaimed, pointing her hoof at a specific piece of technology she had just noticed. Everyone besides Twilight and Daring Do crowded in to examine it.

Twilight asked for a canteen of water from Daring Do, giving Rarity's find only a passing glance in the process.

It was a flat metallic surface, but with one notable feature: the outline of a large hand possessing four digits and two opposable thumbs sat prominently at its center.

"Definitely bipeds." Fluttershy said.

"Perhaps they had all hands instead of hooves or feet, and walked on all fours like us!" Pinkie Pie suggested with a grin.

"That wouldn't make any sense at all, Pinkie! How in tarnation would they be able to balance on their hind legs when they gallop, erm sprint, whatever?" Applejack asked.

"Like a monkey maybe?"

"Well, maybe. I think ya just got me there."

"But what non-erect primate species would possess two thumbs on each hand?" Twilight said skeptically, having taking a long swig of water. "It would be a completely unnecessary vestigial limb."

Nobody had an answer to that, save for Daring Do. "Until we find a specimen of the crew, alive or dead, they might as well have been a race of living rocks for all we know." She waved them out of the room. "C'mon folks, next stop is the cargo bay."

Everyone filed out of the bridge and out into the triangular vestibule. To either side of them were twin doors with signs reading _'elevators'_. Daring led them to the door on the left.

"Elevators, but where the heck are the actual lifts?" Rainbow Dash inquired, looking into the shaft with confusion.

"Yeah, about that...We're not entirely sure if we should actually call them that. They carry you up and down, but not in the way you or I would expect." Daring Do stepped into the shaft, much to the other's chagrin. "Observe. Lift, down! Cargo Deck!" Instantly, Daring Do was levitated downward.

Perplexed, Twilight next stepped forward into the tubular shaft, peering upwards. Another deck laid above her, before the space terminated at a circular ceiling, which had a smaller circular opening cut into it. A small beam of quietly humming blue light emitted out from the aperture.

"Unbelievable, a form of gravity manipulation, _non magical!_"

"Are you sure about this, Twi?" Spike questioned warily.

"You better belief it, Spike! Well, here goes nothing then." Twilight said, entering the gravitational field. "Lift, down. Cargo Deck!" Obediently, the technology responded to her request, lowering her and Spike both.

Her voice quicky growing fainter, Twilight shouted up at them, echoing as she did so. "C'mon girls, its perfectly safe! Just don't go more than two at a time!"

Reluctantly, they all went after her. First Fluttershy, with a little 'encouragement' from Rainbow Dash, followed by the flier herself. Soon after, Applejack and Pinkie Pie entered the lift simultaneously. Pinkie Pie enthusiastically said. "Cargo Deck!"

They did not move, and hovered in the field. "Lift down." Applejack dead panned.

"And...Cargo Deck!" Pinkie Pie added. Her cheering as she descended could be heard all the way from the bridge.

The two earth ponies landed gently down at the cargo deck, resting atop the ship's ventral structure. Much to them and the others' surprise, this floor was far more illuminated by the alien light than previously visited areas.

Daring Do lifted her wings and wave them around dramatically like a salespony hawking their wares. "Well then. Ladies, behold!" She motioned towards the massive metal door sitting ajar in front of them.

"This area is what we call simply, the Cargo Deck Lobby. We obviously don't know what the aliens called it, since we can't access their mainframes yet, and the only way to enter this deck beyond the two gravity lifts is via the Engineering bay, which we cannot yet access either."

To the side of the open vault door was a much smaller room, separated from the lobby by a screen of glass, where another bank of computer consoles sat and another large chair rested. They holographic interfaces were dormant, awaiting interaction or commands from their likely long gone creators. Alongside the alien tech were bits and pieces of Equestrian origin the archaeologists, diggers, and engineers had left behind when their shifts ended, such as bits of scaffolding, more lanterns, field kits, tools, and yellow hard hats with goggles.

"Will you guys be able to access all that stuff soon, you think?" Rainbow Dash inquired.

"Sure, as soon as we get the proper explosives, muscle, and necessary equipment." Daring replied.

Dash grinned. "Awesome. I'd enjoy seeing how well this cold, evil butthead metal would stand against a couple pounds of TNT!"

"But what about the artifacts that could be damaged?" Twilight shouted in outrage.

Daring Do chuckled at the unicorn thinker. "Don't be ridiculous. This species obviously built their stuff to last. Only the hull will be damaged, and hey, we already have plenty of scrap to analyze, anyhow!"

The adventurer started walking forward. "Let's go see where they kept the rest of the booty, shall we?"

Rainbow Dash followed her in an instant, leaving behind a slight rainbow trail in her wake. Pinkie Pie hurried after the pegasi, bouncing. "Hey Dashie, wait up!" She called out.

Applejack watched them go and scoffed in mild exasperation. "Hero worship, ain't done nobody any good no how. C'mon girls, Ah'm itchin' to find out what else besides a bunch of containers of space salt and pepper these Extraterrestrials were shipping!"

"You and me both AJ." Twilight agreed, following.

"Perhaps they were hauling clothing, wouldn't that be interesting." Rarity said, sauntering in the other unicorn's wake.

"I bet the aliens had impeccable fashion sense, Rarity!" Spike suggested.

Fluttershy hurried after the unicorns, not wanting to be the odd one out again. Joining her friends inside, Fluttershy chanced a look around. The cargo hold was easily the largest section of the wreck, and for good reason. While just as well illuminated as the entrance lobby, the hold was still fringed with darkness in its farthest reaches, concealing its remaining secrets in shadow.

"Umm, girls? I've kinda got a bad feeling about this..." Pinkie Pie said, fear creeping into her voice faster than she could even bounce.

Daring Do raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you say that, there's nothing harmful in here, or else we would have..."

Twilight lost her control against whatever was happening to her and snapped again. "Pinkie Pie, you always have a damn bad feeling about something!" Her normally pleasant voice degraded into little more than a bark.

To make matters worse for her, the itch had returned. "This bucking ITCH! Gnah, AHHH!"

Spike jumped off her back in an instant as Twilight started flailing about, itching frantically at her muzzle. "Twily!"

"Twi, what the hay is happening to ya?" Applejack shouted. Next to her, Pinkie Pie watched Twilight with a bizarre combination of confusion and worry.

"Daring, we might need a doctor in here!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Uh, right! You all stay put, I'll be back with our head field physician!" Daring Do vanished through the vault door.

"Twilight, you're starting to scare us darling!" Rarity murmured, slowly backing away as if Twilight were becoming a rabid animal.

While the others slightly seemed to keep their distance, Fluttershy surprisingly rushed towards the distressed mare, seizing her with her wings. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Hold still Twilight, I need to get a good look at you!" She looked at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "Help me out here, _now!_" Her voice had an uncharacteristic amount of authority in it that was quite unlike the norm.

"Let me go Fluttershy!" Twilight growled. "I'm alright, it's just an itch!"

The duo rushed over. "Hold her hind legs down so she can't buck one of us! I need to get a good look at her face, chest, and forelegs!" Fluttershy instructed, ignoring her friend's fierce protests.

Reluctantly, both mares grabbed hold of the nearest leg in both of their own. This bought Fluttershy precious seconds to perform an impromptu medical examination. What she saw confounded, amazed, and frightened her all at the same time.

Spreading out from Twilight's hoof, up her leg and neck, and ending in her muzzle, was a massive rash, just barely visible beneath the unicorn's lavender fur.

This was no ordinary rash, for it glowed with a faint green light. The light was most intense at Twilight's hoof. It was almost as if something were slowly working its way through Twilight's circulatory and lymphatic systems, attacking her immune system and inducing the intense itch.

"Celestia have mercy, what is that stuff on her neck?" Applejack inquired, finally seeing the rash at an angle.

"It's nothing, just please let go of me!" Twilight said in a pleading voice, calming down slightly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and Fluttershy with uncertainty. Fluttershy herself sighed in resignation.

In her normal soft voice, she said. "You can let her go girls." She relinquished her own wings from Twilight and backed away timidly. "Whatever it is, it's spreading through your body fast, Twilight!"

"I can control it, trust me." Twilight retorted in a shaky voice. Her mane was now frayed and erratic in places, and the glowing rash seemed to retreat slightly back down into her foreleg where it had started, pushed back by a spell Twilight was casting. "Let's just continue on searching this damn hold and find out what..."

Twilight was cut off by a loud metallic banging coming from the immense bulkhead wall to their far right, at the edge of the cargo hold. The girls and Spike tensed up, fearing potential monsters lurking about.

Instead, another resounding bang tore through the room, before a section of the bulkhead gave way under a gout of magical fire. Harsh sunlight spilled in, fighting intensely with the ancient alien lights that still miraculously functioned. With the new light, there accompanied a small cloud of smoke, ash, and dust from the ship.

Through the cloud, two unicorns and two earth ponies in explosive-proof suits and goggles trotted in, accompanied by Daring Do and a medical pony clad in white medical robes that clashed with the surrounding grey and black ground. "Miss Sparkle, are you alright?" Daring cried out.

"Yeah, mostly." Twilight shouted back.

"C'mon, you need to get a check up now! If you were exposed to any organic material on board this vessel, we need to know about it _now!_" The physician shouted urgently. "To the tent with me now, double time it!" He ordered again, stamping his hoof impatiently.

"You should probably go and do as he says, Twilight." Fluttershy suggested.

"Fine, fine." Twilight said in resignation. She parted from her friends and stepped out through the hole, which itself had apparently been an exterior loading bay door of some kind, emphasis on the past tense. Daring Do watched her pass her and nodded in approval, then looked to the stallions standing idle next to her.

"Alright gents, time to collect the other artifacts we have on today's quota! Girls, do you suppose you could help us out?"

Despite Twilight's strange behaviour, most of them were still willing, and even eager to continue exploration. They helped the dig crews haul out several more cylinders of the alien powder, as well as more interesting items of noteworthiness.

Daring Do sat down in the main command tent an hour later, writing down on the manifest the numerous new finds brought back to camp. At her back, Twilight was present, having been dismissed from the infirmary tent by the doctor with advise on plenty of bed rest and a special potion of herbs to fight the strange rash.

The unicorn was now working on injecting a powder sample into a test subject one of the resident scientists had graciously retrieved for her-a hardy breed of indigenous mole that thrived in the volcanic soil. Meanwhile, her friends chatted with each other nearby.

As for Daring Do, she continually scribbled away, reading her words aloud. "One cylinder containing alien egg of unknown origin, containment tier one. One metallic crate containing a spiraling onyx black statuette, possessing runic etchings not resembling any languages on known linguistic records, containment tier five." She sighed in boredom, wishing for alien gemstones. "One cylinder of luminescent organic yellow liquid, vapor emitting. Containment level two. No further findings to report today. End of artifact manifest, priority mail to Canterlot."


	3. The Marker

"Your Highness, Princess Celestia! News has arrived from our..erm..._project_ in the Badlands." A Royal Guard Pegasi declared, sprinting into the throne room. Nearing the throne itself, he slowed to a brisk trot before finally coming to a stop a respectful distance away from the Alicorn monarch.

It was morning over Canterlot, and fresh sunlight radiated in from the various stained-glass windows lining the vast expanse of the exquisite room. The light settled in places and glimmered subtly off the Pegasus' silver and gold armor as he patiently awaited the Princesses' attention.

Celestia looked up from a less than entertaining diplomatic document she had been scrutinizing. She smiled at him pleasantly. "Princess, it's Daring Do. The treasure hunter has found even more artifacts, not just the mystifying cylinders of late!"

"Splendid. Let me see it, please. I would like to know the specifics."

The guard bowed and produced a piece of finely-rolled parchment held fast by an official wax seal. Celestia eagerly floated the new document toward her. Hastily stamping the previous document, she tossed it almost nonchalantly onto a lectern beside her gilded throne.

She hummed a light angelic melody as she deftly broke the seal with a penknife from her lectern and began perusing the report's contents.

"An alien egg it says, oh my! Something live has been found, then?" Celestia murmured to herself, reading on. "One spiraling onyx statuette or sculpture-like object with strange runic inscriptions, and finally, a container of unidentified luminescent organic material. Hmm, this shipwreck is unwilling to provide us answers, but it's never hesitant to confront us with new questions, it seems."

"Indeed, Your Highness."

Celestia lowered the paper to look at the idle guard, and she had her head tilted slightly in thought. Still smiling at him, she asked, "What of the artifacts themselves?"

The guard prepared to reply, starting to motion towards his saddlebags, but it would seem Celestia was not quite finished "I understand all of the organic powder samples are currently being left on-site for convenience and safety measures, but what about the statuette, egg specimen, and this mystery liquid that possesses lambent qualities?"

Clearing his throat, the guard bowed again. "If you'll pardon me, Princess, I was just about to address that very matter. One of them, the statuette, Daring Do bid me to deliver here, directly to you!" The Pegasus reached into his bag again, and this time produced something weighty and solid, obviously not another paper document.

His words caused Celestia to positively seize with a most alarming degree of sudden wariness. Her magenta eyes fell upon the artifact in the guard-courier's hoof, and they widened.

"Your brought one of the alien artifacts...here? Under no level of magical containment!" Celestia reeled back slightly in her throne.

Her courier grimaced apologetically. "Your Highness, my apologies for frightening you! But if you recall just moments ago in Miss Do's report, this artifact has been rated by the specialists over on in base camp at a containment tier five. That mean's its safe to transport with minimal safeguards. It's also non-organic, and the scientist who handed it to me stated that no known magical forces could detected from it, physical contact is almost guaranteed to be non-harmful."

"I, I don't know what exactly to say then." Celestia stammered incredulously. Seeing the Pegasus still standing with the statuette in his hoof awkwardly, the Princess sighed and took the artifact from him. She levitated it closely in front of her. "It's just so otherworldly. Surely my caution is understandable, wouldn't you agree?"

"Um, yes Your Majesty."

"Now," Celestia put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully for a few seconds. "I want to call it a statue, but some part of my mind tells me that wouldn't quite be accurate. Now, that aside, what must its surface be comprised of? What does it feel like? For some reason, I have an urge to just..."

Tentatively, Celestia raised a foreleg and made physical contact with the artifact, gasping as her hoof touched it's carved surface. "Goodness, it feels as if it's been made of pure ice! How in the world could such a thing have been found near the lava of the Badlands?"

"What's cold, my sister?" Another regal voice inquired from the other end of the room.

Celestia removed her now freezing hoof from the artifact and turned to look at the newcomer. "Luna, it's lovely to see you, good morning." Celestia smiled at the younger Alicorn, ever so gently setting the artifact down at the foot of her throne in the process.

The Royal Guard eye-balled the alien object strangely, almost warily.

Luna nodded to Celestia, smiling slightly in return. "As to you as well, Tia." Inevitably, she pointed her hoof insistently at the artifact. "That thing, is it the source of this cold you speak of? The alien artifact is safe to touch?"

Celestia looked to the guard, who was still wary. "Our scientists in the Badlands said it is safe, yes."

"Let me chance an examination, then."

"Sure thing Luna, just please be gentle with it, It likely predates us by millenia." Celestia frowned. "And it's extremely cold to the touch."

Luna flashed her sister a bemused frown. "You know you can trust me with delicate things, sister. I'm not some brash, careless adolescent mare. Give it here."

Celestia's smile diminished slightly, but she promptly sent the artifact over to Luna. "Here's Daring Do's description of it in the report, she identified it as a 'statuette', but I'm hesitant to give it any label of sort, as of yet."

The words were met with only a casual nod, as Luna read the report, then carefully floated the artifact towards her face, giving it a detailed visual analysis. True to Daring Do's words, the artifact was made of an onyx-black substance akin to both metal and stone. It had a wide circular base, which spiraled upwards in graceful curves before terminating with four prong-like structures at its apex.

Like her sister, Luna also found it to be shockingly cold to the touch. "Ah, 'tis heir apparent to diving in a frozen lake! It's almost as if it sucks the heat right out of the body."

"Your Majesty, whilst carrying it, I noticed the strange cold as well, as it effected me both when I was in direct sunlight, and in close proximity to my campfire, the night previous." The guard added with a mystified frown.

"The curiosities only mount." Celestia murmured, glancing about the room absentmindedly.

It was then that Luna finally took notice of the runic etchings on the freezing alien surface. They had not been visible before, but were now illuminated by a pale red-orange light where they rested, highlighting their presence for all to see. "No, not a sculpture or statuette..." Luna said finally, looking at the artifact again. She prodded at it, grimacing each time at the sharp cold.

"Don't poke it, Luna! Even if it's non-organic or magical, it could be some kind of explosive waiting to go off!"

"Nonsense, sister! Why would a warlike species waste time making their bombs or grenades so ornate like this?" To that, Celestia appeared to have no rebuttal. Luna then got a new idea, and scanned the object with a spell from her horn.

The spell ceased, and Luna grinned briefly in triumph. "Aha, a discovery! I would be more inclined to label it as a 'marker' or pylon, Tia.." Her ears perked up as her thoughts came to consensus.

"Yes, a marker, I would call this." Luna declared with abject certainty. "I have no hope of translating these runes sister, I suspect nopony anywhere close does. However, one thing is quite clear, this particular piece actually labeled itself in my mind as a 'marker'. The word just appeared, spontaneously upon the ending of my magic stream making contact with it."

"Quite strange." The Guard courier murmured. "So very, _very_ strange."

Celestia looked from the guard back to her sister and said, "Well, this is one discovery but many, I'll leave it up to you to decide what you want to do with it, Luna. Since it's not organic, it's likely benign enough. Do be careful keeping it near any magic, however. Any errant telekinesis could shatter it, then whatever mysteries it does contain would never be known."

Luna nodded again. "Of course, Celestia. I'll find a safe place to contain it, until I decide what to do with it."

"Alright." Celestia said. They shared a final brief smile, then Luna turned to leave.

Upon her younger sibling's departure, Celestia glanced at Royal Guard courier. "Now, what of the egg and the encapsulated glowing liquid, where are they exactly? And will Twilight Sparkle and her friends be arriving soon with their own findings?"

"Daring Do has kept possession of the liquid for independent study back at camp, citing it's apparent similarities to the powder. As for the egg, Twilight Sparkle has formally requested to return to her lab in Ponyville with the egg itself and several dozen of the powder samples to perform experiments with."

For a moment, Celestia was hesitant. These were unknown organic materials they were dealing with. Materials, that very well could have been present in the wreck when the earliest ponies had only just begun migrating out of their ancestral grasslands, mountains and forests to establish their civilizations.

After further thought, the Alicorn finally settled. "Have someone send word to her that I approve." This was _Twilight Sparkle_ after all, Celestia reasoned. If any mare could safely crack the aliens' eons-old mysteries in the safest, fastest manner possible, it would be her.

The Pegasus bowed and nodded. "That's not all however, my lady." He said.

"Oh?"

"Sparkle has also requested several hundred cylinders be transported to secure labs in Manehattan and other cities. She feels that dividing out the work will produce answers and results, far faster."

It was a step further into risky waters Celestia wasn't quite fond of, but the pursuit of science and the possibility of making further discoveries that would change the world forever were far too compelling to be ignored. With a cautious optimism for the future of Equestrian science, medicine, and technology, Celestia approved.

"Please ensure that Twilight is notified that she has my blessing. She may do as she wishes with the alien artifacts. I'd tell her myself, but I wish to dedicate some time later with Luna and some scholars to look into this, 'marker' as she seems so fond of calling it now."

The Guard hesitated for a moment, watching Luna stroll away with the black alien marker in her telekinetic grip. Snapping back to attention with the sudden clearing of Celestia's throat, he bowed hastily. "Of course, Your Highness. I'll get right on it! As the Pegasi guard left, Celestia stretched her wings and settled in her throne. She was preparing for the late morning's usual daily flow of incoming documents and subjects all vying for her attention on affairs of state, economics, culture and the like.

Lunch, was when she planned to rejoin Luna and conduct some Royal archaeology of her own with the aid of Canterlot's most eminent scientific minds. Celestia looked forward to the new activity fondly as her workload slowly made its presence known on her nearby desk, teleported in by her unicorn aides.

If the marker turned out to just be little more than an alien-made paper weight, Celestia decided she would just give it to Prince Blue Blood as a sort of impromptu gift. It was her distant nephew's birthday in a few weeks, and such a gesture from royalty was likely to appease the bothersome aristocrat for at least a month or two.

* * *

It didn't take long for Celestia's message to be relayed to Twilight Sparkle back at camp.

"So Twilight, how's your rash doing?" Spike inquired, moving travelling packs into place at the front of the tent for their imminent departure from the Badlands.

Twilight, reclining on one of the tent's mats, peeked up from the container she was just examining to smile at him. "I haven't been itching for the entire day, and my hoof seems to be back to normal." She bent her hoof back and forth experimentally. "I think the herbs might have cured it."

Spike chuckled. "Always leave it to the docs to know the right kind of remedy for any situation." He heaved the last contents of the saddlebags into place with a grunt. "Fluttershy and the others are all ready to go out there. You ready?"

The container's occupant distracted her slightly as she replied, peering into it curiously again. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be out in a sec, Spike. Just let me gather up the rest of the stuff and get everything tidy."

"Suit yourself." The dragon replied with a shrug, disappearing with the packs in talon through the canvas flap.

Just before getting up to go herself, Twilight took final note of the container. Sequestered within it's glass surface, was the native Badlands mole she had introduced to the alien powder just the other day. Having been ferocious and difficult to work with at the start as expected, the large rodent was now strikingly placid.

It stood largely in one spot, staring straight ahead and twitching various muscle groups seemingly at random. Occasionally, the mole would casually scratch parts of its body or move to occupy a different corner.

Twilight took it in with a thoughtful 'huh', before picking up the glass container and hurrying after Spike and the rest of her friends, leaving the Badlands by carriage to Ponyville. As they went, the alien cylinders holding more powder and the unidentified egg followed along in another wagon, sealed tightly from the outside world by a magic stasis field that was cast on the vehicle.

Daring Do and some of the off duty excavation crew watched them go. Daring squinted under her beige pith hat from the harsh sunlight and waved jovially after them.

As they disappeared over the ash dune fringing the camp, Daring Do turned back and pulled something from her own saddlebag. It was the alien jar containing the lambent liquid. "I can't believe I got left with the alien glowie stick, it's barely more than an over glorified nightlight!" She exclaimed, slightly disappointed.

"Maybe the biologists over at tent B will find something to do with it later." Daring thought aloud, heading back to her work place at the main tent.

"One thing's for sure, I better not here of Manehatten or some other city being taken over by some sentient shape-shifting fungus like in that crappy horror flick I saw last weekend. I hope Twilight Sparkle knows what she's doing with that creepy stuff."

The treasure hunter entered the tent with still lingering hopes of priceless alien gems and intact ray guns on her mind, the glowing liquid radiating from within container in her hoof.


	4. Bad Dream

"Behold, fair scholars and researchers! Feast thy eyes, and prepare thy minds!" Luna declared in a high, firm voice as she filled occupied the air next to her sister at the center of the room. She hovered in the air, slowly beating her wings in a steady rhythm and raising her right foreleg to punctuate her address. "Here, an ancient runic sculpture, a marker, discovered aboard the alien wreck in the Badlands has been brought to us for study."

Luna's audience, a carefully selected intellectual group of over a dozen unicorns and one earth pony from Canterlot Academy, sat down across the various bleachers and desks of the lecture hall, listening with rapt forbearance. They were in a circular room, in which the bleachers formed a graceful amphitheater that stood tall, brightly lit by sunlight from the massive gilded, wrought iron and glass dome. The innumerable rays of golden sunshine the dome provided radiated upon the surface of the marble floor, which was accented by a colored inlay of red, magenta, and azure tiles formed from magically-treated limestone.

A few well-placed wrought iron electric wall sconces served to bolster the great hall's illumination, and helped to draw one's attention to the flanking carved marble columns and the blue, white, and golden royal banners that swayed gently in the humid indoor air. Stunning vines and mosses that hung gracefully on their trellises or the surrounding marble walls, towering palm and weeping willow trees, and quietly babbling waterfalls combined with the other elements to produce a stunning interior that easily rivaled or surmounted beautiful locations all across Canterlot.

"The runes shown to exist on its unnaturally cold surface are completely unknown to us, since we first laid our eyes on it only a few hours ago." Celestia added, shifting the audience's focus to her. "We have invited you all here to request that you each give it a look. Perhaps with your wisdom, you will succeed where we cannot."

Some of the group patted their foreheads with handkerchiefs as they listened, while others loosened the fastenings and neck ties on their academic robes and suits. Others still, mares in particular, levitated folding fans lazily back and forth towards their muzzles.

Their lecture hall was situated in the heart of Canterlot's Royal Conservatory, which housed a diverse plethora of different plant and bird species, both temperate and tropical. The Conservatory itself was kept at a constant warm temperature via both magical and technological means. This combined with it being noon, and Equestria being in her late month of rain and bloom, caused some within the group to become noticeably irritable and restless. Not even Luna and Celestia's combined royal presence was not enough to keep the eggheads complaint free for long.

"With all due respect Your Majesties, pardon my interruption and not to sound impertinent, but just what in blue blazes are you talking about? What is this 'marker' you speak of...? All we see are you two, and the same floor we've been staring at for the past agonizingly sweltering ten minutes!"

Both Alicorns turned to the owner of the voice. It was Doctor Hooves, the sole earth pony of the group. Within seconds, several of his colleagues unhappily murmured that they shared in his sentiment. Luna took the group's chatter with slowly mounting annoyance, while Celestia herself remained serene.

"Patience, please. If it better suits you all, we shall show you now, without further pandering." Celestia looked at Luna expectantly, and she nodded at her.

Luna turned around and proceeded intently towards an orb of cobalt light that had been resting relatively unnoticed a few feet from her older sisters' hooves, until now. With a gentle tap of her horn, Luna released the magical stasis field, revealing the black marker for all to see. The scholars gave a collective gasp of intrigue and curiosity as the marker flared red, revealing its intricately cut runes. They rushed forward to get a closer look at it.

"What skill and magics must have been used in its design?" One scholar wondered.

"How exotic! Colder than an iceberg though, it's true!" Another observed.

"Your Majesties, umm, please forgive my earlier impatience." Doctor Hooves asked sheepishly, straightening his neck tie and rubbing at his rich brown mane as he paced down the steps to the polished floor. The area was quickly becoming crowded with enterprising researchers. "Truly, what you are sharing with us now will change the face of archaeology and science as we know it!"

Luna's features hardened at his words. The Princess quicky assumed a sterner air, leaving her annoyance behind. "Thou shalt speak nothing of what they have seen here to outsiders, only amongst thine colleagues and other servants of the throne."

Doctor Hooves, bemused and slightly taken aback at Luna's sudden command, look as if he were going to inquire as to why. Celestia, however, beat him to the punch."It's not that we don't trust you, Doctor Hooves." She said, laying a reassuring wing on his shoulder. "The discoveries both you and the others stationed at the wreck site will make could prove both beneficial and disruptive for Equestria and the world at large. Right now, things are just too..." Celestia cocked her brow as she stumbled about in her mind for the right words.

"We believe the word you're seeking out would be 'sensitive', Tia." Luna interjected.

Celestia half-smiled, allowing a quick giggle to leave her lips. "Ah yes, thank you Luna. It would be far too 'sensitive' and could cause unforeseen troubles. If word spread out that alien shipwrecks and artifacts were being unearthed and shipped across the Kingdom like cake, without the public being informed."

"For as long as these materials require study, they shall remain in our approved halls of science and academia only, nowhere else." Luna said. "Once we have gleaned most or all usable information from them, and they are deemed depleted of interest to us, then the populace at large may be granted discourse and public viewing in due time."

Nodding, Hooves seemed to agree with Luna's on-the-spot decree, as did Celestia. All three turned to the marker, which the others were taking turns scanning with their horns, writing down testing data on clipboards or parchment.

"Goodness, how dismally boring of a plan, Luna! Why be so stingy with a little bit of star junk?" A mischievous voice declared from seemingly out of the thick, muggy atmosphere. Luna and Celestia paced around and scanned the room in confusion, while Hooves simply stood, too entranced by the marker to pay any significant notice.

Suddenly, a mare gasped as her folding fan suddenly grew a pair of intense yellow eyes and a wide, grinning mouth. The fan fell lightly to floor as the unicorn shook it free of her hoof, her telekinesis failing from the distraction and clipboard clattering on the tiles in the process.

In a magical poof, the large, grinning form of Discord took shape where the fan had once lain. He tented his mismatched digits together as he looked from the little marker on the ground to the Princesses. Celestia rolled her eyes at him, while Luna gave Discord a highly impatient glare. He shuffled casually towards them.

"What would you have us do then?" Luna inquired, only half willing to hear Discord's likely tongue-in-cheek response.

Surprisingly, he seemed rather disinterested in the marker. "Pshaw. To tell you the truth, I do not know." He thoughtfully rubbed at his narrow silken silver beard. "Probably use it to crack coconuts shut, perhaps. So, Lulu, you ready for that game of outdoor magical dodge ball you promised me earlier this week?"

In an instant, Discord had poofed into summer garb, complete with a headband, sunglasses, and a whimsical pair of athletic shorts. He held a dodge ball at his side, and he grinned at Luna expectantly. "Well?"

Luna groaned in irritation. "Very well then, meet us at the court in a few minutes. We must make ready, and then ensure you have not meddled with the field of play. We will have no tolerance for any alterations, however amusing they may be to you!"

"I'll see you later Luna, I'm staying behind to observe as the scholars perform their investigations." Celestia said. Luna nodded and took her leave. Discord broke into a hardy chuckle as he followed Luna toward the large, reinforced double oak doors at the edge of the amphitheater. Watching them go, Celestia sensed something wrong in the air. The Princess of the Sun grimaced involuntarily as a loud ringing sound suddenly bounced around inside her skull. She clambered about, looking for the potential source. A few unicorns noticed and asked if she was alright. Celestia could see them talking, but no words could be heard over the deafening ringing.

Just as Celestia began to feel as if her forehead would surely split open, the ringing sound inexplicably ceased. The sound gave way to worried voices, murmuring sharply amongst themselves, inquiring Celestia of her health.

Celestia however, ignored them as she caught a final glimpse of Luna. She was opening the exit doors, and for a fleeting moment, the Princess swore Luna looked exactly like Nightmare Moon. Hushed whispering echoed in a language indiscernible to Celestia. At the same time, Nightmare Moon seemed to turn her gaze towards her, boring into Celestia with fierce, feline-like eyes. Her lips pulled back to reveal a sneer of razor-sharp teeth. Celestia's own magenta eyes widened, and she staggered back to the floor in shock, ears pressed flat in alarm. Luna and Discord disappeared behind the doors, not aware of Tia's troubles. As soon as they departed from view, the whispers ended.

"Your Highness, are you not well?" Doctor Hooves stammered with worry.

Celestia shook her head, pulling herself up on all fours. "Uhh, no. I'm fine, it's nothing serious, Doctor Hooves." She spoke quickly. " Just a...just a headache is all. I fear I will not be able to remain with you all."

She smiled apologetically. "I must retire to my quarters for the day. I'm leaving you in charge of studying the marker, Doctor. I'll also leave a small detachment of guards to keep the curious from bothering all of your work. I know I can trust you, can I not?" Celestia maintained her smile as Doctor Hooves nodded with a puzzled frown, his eyebrows raised.

"Aye, Your Majesty. You bloody well can!"

Celestia inclined her head appreciatively, then hurried out at a frantic pace, politely brushing off any and all offers of assistance from the researchers. Her smile faltered the very instant she no longer felt anypony's eyes upon her. Doctor Hooves mentally dismissed Celestia's behavior with a shake of his head. While Alicorn psychology was a potentially intriguing field of study, Hooves already had something to focus his attention on.

The Doctor turned around, watching his colleagues chat and pass the marker around amongst themselves, taking turns examining it. The red runic inscriptions flared a bright red. Doctor Hooves had ideas of his own for experiments to conduct upon it, and made his way towards the marker. The potential discoveries their work would yield, left him grinning from ear to ear, and his eyes burned with a new-found intensity.

"Right. Well, let's hurry up and crack the enigma of this alien writing, chaps, and be back to the Academy in time for tea!"

* * *

_The Unicorn galloped as fast as she could down the metal corridor. Her treacherous legs threatened to give out under her from the vast muscular strain, only soldiering on from the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing into them through her bloodstream._

_Pursuers roared and screeched in unnatural patterns and tones behind her, a cacophony of pure chaos; a symphony only the truly deranged and psychotic could appreciate._

_Just as she swore she could finally reach the harsh sunlight at the nearing doorway in front of her, the mare's limbs dished out their last as she leapt for the salvation of the world outside. The alien blast door flanking her exit sealed shut with a resounding metallic boom. Behind its thick plating, the pursuing horrors were forced to halt. They pounded, wailed, and screamed rage and vexation at their would-be prey, whom so narrowly escaped from their ravenous clutches._

_Their incomprehensible garbling gradually faded away as the monstrosities left, one by one back into the dark depths from whence they had arisen._

_Sensing freedom from danger at last, the Unicorn felt a surge of relief flood into her mind as she basked gratefully in the Sun's warming glow. She laid still for several moments, listening carefully as the last of the un-pony screaming finally died down, leaving her with only the quiet serenity of bird songs and the babbling of a small brook nearby to contemplate._

_Rising to her hooves, the mare rushed over into the creek as fast as her exhausted limbs would allow. Slowly, she drank the cool effervescent water, sighing with pleasure as the calming liquid soothed her parched throat and flowed around the fur of her hooves._

_Emerging from the water with new-found strength, the Unicorn dried herself with a spell, then cast another to heal her ghastly but non life-threatening wounds, which marred the silken lavender coat of her back. As soon as the itch from the machinations of the healing spell had faded away, the mare pondered what she should do next, where to go and who to look for._

_Her thoughts were cut short by a deep, echoing voice that seemed to resonate from everywhere at once. She widened her eyes as she was forced to listen._

_"Our Tide is Coming. Upon this day, the Sun's fortress shall sunder at dusk's last light. Know this, however. The impending army of corrupted flesh shall not hinder our currents, for Magic shall soon call us her kin."_

_The voice lowered to a whisper, seemingly addressing only the mare now. "Prepare for our arrival, young horned one. It is close." The alien voice chuckled with a deep echo, before fading out entirely. Silence prevailed, then everything faded to black..._

Twilight awoke with a startled jolt. She panted rapidly, beads of cold sweat rolling and falling from her forehead onto the blankets like raindrops before a coming storm.

Seeking to calm herself down, Twilight ran a hoof slowly through her tangled mass of purple and lavender mane, while cupping her muzzle in the other. She remained like that for a full minute, regaining her bearings.

After spending another minute looking around scanning the room, Twilight finally clambered out of bed. Two things set her internal alarm off in an instant as they finally made themselves known to her. Firstly, Spike's bed was vacant of the young dragon, usually the last occupant of the household to awaken. Secondly, and far more startling, Twilight's rash had returned, and with renewed intensity.

Emitting a sharp gasp that sounded more like a squeak, Twilight frantically cast one of the few spells she knew that could force it to recede back into her hoof. Slowly, the green-glowing irritated tissue beneath her lavender fur eased back to apparent normalcy as the anti-toxin spell ran its course.

While the rash had gone, it had not done so without fight. Some of Twilight's fur fell to the wooden floor in copious tufts, leaving a few patches of visible skin.

"What?" She exclaimed nervously, as she began fumbling around for something. "I don't believe this, what was I thinking opening that stuff? I must be terribly allergic to it!" Twilight became paranoid of somepony witnessing the apparent allergic reaction and becoming overly worried.

Holding the hoof wrappings that she had equipped in the Badlands two days ago, Twilight wove them around the afflicted limb. Unsatisfied with their area of coverage, she grabbed a hold on a nearby window drape, and then levitated a pair of scissors to her mouth, and held the drape out.

"Now it's starting to give me nonsensical nightmares? I better talk to Princess Celestia and Luna about this soon." Twilight murmured with the scissors handles held fast in her teeth. Quickly, she got to work. Upon completion, she looked at her foreleg in the mirror. Her coat seemed rather paler than she remembered, but other than that everything seemed to be in satisfactory order.

Confident that enough of her leg was hidden enough from view that nobody would notice, Twilight straightened her mane as best she could, and scanned the room a final time, before heading downstairs in search of her assistant.

"He better not be in the lab poking at the stasis field for the alien egg jar again, or else there will be trouble." She muttered irritably.


	5. Psychotrope

"So Spike, you say the alien powder we hauled out can actually alter the behavior of animals?"

"Oh boy, does it! Ever since Twilight slipped some into this little guy, he's been as lovable as a kitten."

"Intriguing, darling."

Rarity and Spike were standing in the middle of Twilight's cellar laboratory, curiously examining the transparent cage containing the Badlands mole under the light of several arc lamps hanging over head.

True to Spike's description, the small mammal was no longer behaving like itself. It had gone from an aggressive wild animal into an almost domesticated pet, practically overnight. Inside the cage it wandered about, prodding curiously at various corners with its specially-formed pink nose. On occasion, it attempted to 'dig' through the tempered glass floor with its shovel-like claws, long since bored of its new habitat.

Its claws were adept at digging through rough dirt, volcanic soil, and even the more brittle types of stone, but the magically-fortified surface was able to resist them easily.

"I've named him Digger." Spike proclaimed, poking at the glass.

This elicited a giggle from Rarity. "Oh really, should I start calling Spikey-Wikey 'Dragon' then?" She let out a good-natured quip. "You really are a master at devising names, aren't you?"

Spike's face blushed into a dozen furious shades of red. "Yeah, yeah. I know he's a mole, and moles dig. But it's simple, and it makes sense. Should I have named him 'cupcake' or something?" Spike opened up the lid and put his hand in, drawing Digger's attention.

The mole ambled over slowly, reaching up his claws towards Spike's talons and pawing at them experimentally. Digger sniffed at the hand, analyzing the new object entering his territory.

"Hey, that tickles!" Spike said with a light chuckle. When Digger appeared to grow bored with him, Spike withdrew his hand and put the lid back on.

"Intriguing." Rarity repeated, leaning in to peer at Digger. "A powder that can make any animal behave like a perfect little angel, Positively awe-inspiring." Rarity hummed for a second as she broke into thought. "Spike, do you suppose Twilight would be willing to test this on..."

"What are you two doing down here?" A low, stern voice asked from behind them.

It was so unexpected that Spike nearly jumped. Rarity likewise turned around rapidly, startled. "Oh, Twilight, there you are." Rarity greeted her nervously.

"Hey...hey Twi. Just showing Rarity..." Spike gulped, fiddling with his thumbs. "...your work."

Twilight Sparkle stepped slowly out of the shadowy area fringing the entrance, the lights casting her form clearly into view. Twilight had one eyebrow cocked, and her lips were pulled in a frown. Her violet eyes appeared partially bloodshot and her coat was noticeably paler, but despite this and the cloth wrapped around her right foreleg, Twilight seemed her usual self.

"Darling, what in the world is that hideous thing doing on your leg?" Rarity asked.

Startled by the urgency in Rarity's voice, Twilight practically jumped as she instinctively moved to cover the limb with her left. "Huh?" She flattened her ears as she grinned sheepishly, abandoning her stoicism. "N...nothing. I...I just figured I'd try a new uh..._fashion_. Yeah, that's it!"

Twilight sauntered forward like a model, quite awkwardly. "See? A new type of..._leg warmer!_"

"Mmm-hmm." Rarity replied skeptically. "I can tell that's a curtain drape, dear. Isn't that strange rash of yours cured yet?"

Frown returning, Twilight groaned irritably and stepped back. "Why didn't you guys ask me before coming down her? This isn't exactly a place that's one hundred percent safe." She ignored Rarity's question. "I mean come on, we have an alien egg here that could hatch into any number of things, what if it's dangerous?"

"Sorry Twilight, I thought you wouldn't mind!" Spike interjected.

"You know what? Don't worry about it, Spike. You're not in trouble." Twilight began pacing, first towards them, then around the cellar. "Nobody needs to worry about anything. Clearly, if something bad were going to happen..." She paused and rubbed her hooves together. "...It would have already happened." Twilight giggled to herself quietly, resisting the urge to itch at her leg. She then looked back up at them, growing calm and smiling. "So, what would you like me to test the powder on?"

"Why Opalescence, to be exact. You know how feisty she can get at times. Normally I would never consider such a thing..." Rarity paused and put a hoof to her muzzle. "...but Spike's shown me what this powder can do, and well, if it can help Opal behave better, and you get a chance to further your work, everyone wins. Right, darling?"

Several seconds passed while Twilight gave her friend's request consideration. "I don't know, Rarity. This was a case with only one species. For all we know, the powder might affect each species or individual differently, possibly even in a negative way! Are you sure you want to take a chance?"

Rarity seemed to reconsider for a moment. "Ah, well when you put it that way, hmm..." Recalling a particularly unsavory exchange with Opalescence several days ago, she finally made up her mind. "Yes, I'm sure dear. If you're willing, stop by the Boutique whenever it suits you."

As the two continued to talk, Spike listened intently. Behind him, he heard a slight noise coming from one of the magical stasis fields. It sounded vaguely like an orange being peeled open, or an onion. He shrugged, dismissing it as his overactive imagination.

"Alright." Twilight agreed with a sigh. "I know I said we needed test subjects, but my friends' pets weren't at all what I had in mind!" She laughed incredulously. "Me and Spike will be over after lunch. I'll be sure to have a sample ready to be administered when we get there."

Rarity closed her eyes and smiled. "Thank you, Twilight. See you then!" She turned to go. "Bye Spike."

The dragon waved at her slowly with a dreamy look on his upon his face. Twilight rolled her eyes at the display. Rarity disappeared at the top of the staircase, leading out into the backyard of the Library. No sooner had she gone, Spike let out a loud yelp.

On instinct, Twilight spun around with lighting speed to see what was wrong; the young dragon was pale with fear. Spike pointed a talon at one of the contents of the room. It was stasis field containing the alien egg.

It's topmost portion had opened up off its own accord, with four fleshy flaps bent back in the air. Several arachnid limbs were rapidly flailing about like fingers, clearly belonging to something alive inside.

Spike realized with a sickening lurch of his stomach, that this was what had made the peeling sound earlier. Twilight observed the phenomena with bewilderment and fascination. Eyes widened, she slowly approached the contained specimen.

"Twi, no! Stay away from it! It could do anything!"

"Calm down, Spike! It's surrounded by one of my force fields, it's not going anywhere!" Twilight replied with an annoyed growl, her itch flaring up again underneath the fur covering it. It felt as if a million insects were crawling beneath her fur and skin, attempting to get out.

Twilight paused to cast another anti-toxin spell as the creature finally emerged. The spider-like organism leapt with frightening speed into the air, only to be stopped a second and a half later by the field.

"You see...?" Twilight said, gritting her teeth as she coursed her magic through her own body. The beige, fleshy alien clung to the field, facing in the direction of Spike. "Its not going anywhere!"

A proboscis-like protrusion emerged from what the duo assumed was the creature's mouth, situated in the middle of its abdomen. The repugnant appendage prodded at the barrier. Four arachnoid limbs extended out on either side of its body, and two fleshy lobe-like structures flanked a long, spindly segmented tail at the rear.

With the way it gripped and clung to the energy barrier with its fingers, the repulsive alien almost seemed to be hugging the surface.

With her spell complete, Twilight resumed her composure and walked up to the circular stasis field. Spike watched her nervously. As soon as the Unicorn was less than three feet away, the alien reeled back from her, emitting a hissing noise.

Suspicious, Twilight got an idea. "Spike go around to the opposite side of the alien's containment unit and see what he does."

With a reluctant gulp, Spike obeyed and circled, sidestepping and maintaining his distance. Instantly, the thing closed the distance and leapt towards Spike's direction again. "Alright, now trade spots with me." Spike dashed towards her, while Twilight stamped her hoof and trotted around to the alien's current position. Once again, the alien hissed at her, as if in revulsion at her presence.

"Amazing!" Twilight proclaimed. "Spike, again!" They repeated the action, and the alien cryptically repeated the same behavior.

Twilight decided to perform the simple experiment one final time. This time, she took Digger out of his cage, levitating him into her place, with Spike again on the opposite side of the alien's prison. To their shock, the alien avoided the mole as it did Twilight, instead trying to aggressively make a beeline for Spike.

"Man, I'm not gonna be able to sleep for days now!" Spike declared.

"Don't worry!" Twilight said, repeating herself. She put Digger back in his cage, then ignited her horn and touched the force field trapping the alien. "I'm strengthening the stasis barrier. So long as nopony interferes with the power source, this little guy isn't going anywhere." Seeing that he was starting to shake slightly, she put a foreleg–the uncovered one–on his shoulder reassuringly, and spoke in a soothing tone. "Why don't you head on up to the kitchen, I'll make some lunch for the both of us."

Spike looked up at her, dumbfounded. "You still have an _appetite?_"

"Yes, actually. Go on ahead, I've got to check on a few things first." Twilight sensed he was about to argue, and pointed towards the stairs. "_Go._" Spike begrudgingly left the room, muttering to himself.

As soon as he was out of sight, Twilight unraveled the fabric around her effected foreleg. It was resurgent once again, a tiny tinge of bio-luminescent green spreading slowly under the skin. "Seriously, I'm getting real tired of you!" She shouted.

Twilight prepared the anti-toxin spell again, charging it up to a level higher than any previous. "I'll_sterilize_ it, if nothing else!" For good measure, she called upon other medical spells she knew that could strengthen the immune system, and kill all known non-magical pathogens. Her lavender aura meshed with the golden aura common of medical spells, and soon a large aurora-like formation was drifting in the air above, casting a spectacular light show that danced across the entire cellar laboratory.

Nearby, the hatched alien organism hissed and curled itself up in a defensive position. Digger meanwhile, observed and sniffed at the magical energies warily. When the spells reached Twilight's desired charge level, she released them all at once with a fierce shout.

The magic coursed through her body as well as the entire room, charging and distorting the air whilst leaving everything in the backwash of intense magical radiation, before slowly fading out.

Now panting with exertion, Twilight unraveled the rest of the fabric and examined her hoof. While the fur was still either gone or faded and pale, it was otherwise completely devoid of any sign of infection, with the original cut long faded away, having completely healed. Twilight sighed, gathered her remaining energy up, then made her way out, feeling as if she hadn't slept in years.

With the room now vacant, something began to stir.

Inside the powder canisters, the energy residue from Twilight's magical discharge permeated the ancient amino acid chains, reigniting metabolic processes on the molecular scale that had previously ceased eons ago. Startlingly, the same was occurring within the volcanic soil-dwelling mole.

Deep inside Digger's body, the no longer dormant alien particles were forming into complex super cells. New nuclei within them were already communicating with their brethren in the canisters, coordinated by an unknown force as they initiated cellular division and multiplied. They were working in tandem, slowly re-writing the mammal's DNA into a new recombinant strain, while preparing themselves for acquisition of more biomass to further their evolution.

The process would have taken generations to unfold normally, but Twilight's magics had accelerated things exponentially. Now twitching his nose about and noticing the presence of the alien, Digger tensed up into a defensive posture, his claws ready to dig his way to safety, regardless of the glass surfaces.

Instinct was ordering his brain to either get away from, or eliminate the unrecognized organism at all costs. Meanwhile, the alien resolved to continue to exist in its curled up state, awaiting a suitable host to approach and free it from its magical prison.

* * *

Twilight and Spike sat down to a brief lunch, before soon setting out for Carousel Boutique to work on Opalescence.

The procedure was straightforward. Twilight injected a minute amount of powder from her cellar into the feline's bloodstream. To Rarity's joy, Spike's amazement, and Twilight's supreme relief, the feline quickly went from irritably spitting and hissing at the syringe and everyone, to a gentle purring exactly seventy seconds after exposure.

Rarity had declared she was in their debt, while Twilight then went home to tidy up the Library, and then work some more in her lab. Examining the mole, she recorded her observations of Digger's sudden change from earlier in the morning. His claws had grown longer, and sharper. This had brought even more wonder to Spike upon mentioning of it at dinner. He wondered if Digger would eventually become a 'super' mole.

Twilight giggled, waving her now normal leg around in delight. "Maybe the powder is like some type of superhero serum, but it only works good on non-ponies!" She declared jokingly.

Spike chuckled loudly. "Yeah! But for ponies, or at least unicorns, it causes..." He held out his palm and counted with his fingers. "...rashes, mood swings, unreasonable irritability, _paranoia_..."

"Whoa there, mister! You might not even want to state what the fifth effect is, if you still want dessert tonight." Twilight interjected, glaring disapprovingly at him.

"...and I will just be shutting up now." Spike nervously starting shoveling bits of amethyst into his mouth with the spoon at a far faster pace, causing Twilight to giggle again.

After spending the rest of the evening sorting books, playing board games, and discussing alien life, the duo retired to bed.

Twilight inspected her hoof one final time for the day. Seeing that it was unchanged, she rested easy, content that she now knew the alien powder substance couldn't be tested on ponies if her case and experience were anything to consider. It was an area of scientific ethics she was not all eager to have to explore.

Moonlight shined on her face, and finally her now heavy eyelids fluttered shut.

* * *

While things were returning to normal for Twilight in Ponyville, Doctor Hooves and his colleagues were still working intensely on breaking the enigma before them that was the Marker.

It had been two long days since Celestia and Luna had introduced them to it. Since then, they had it set it on a table in the middle, where they each took turns conducting tests, while the rest observed.

By now, it was becoming far too tedious, but still they continued. They watched each other with tired, weary eyes. So mesmerizing the artifact was to them, that they refused to sleep, and only took two breaks per day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon, for meals or to use the lavatories. Nopony, not a single one of the scholars would leave, until the mystery was finally put to rest.

The Marker would be theirs, and they would be heralded as the greatest scientific minds in Equestrian history, Hooves mused, sitting down with the others and watching. Even Star Swirl the Bearded would have bowed before them in awe.

"Wait, why must I share it with these simpletons?" Hooves murmured to himself out of earshot. His eyes grew wide and he rubbed his hooves together as he pondered the possibilities. "Greatness yes...but greatness can't be shared. No, no, _no!_"

Hooves was rubbing at his mane fervently now, as he focused attention back on the black Marker. "No...the others are greedy." The runes beckoned to him ever more intensely. Celestia was lowering the sun, and moonlight shined through the dome above, casting an ethereal glow over the amphitheater.

"Greedy, dirty, fat little foals! Steal my fire will they?" He blurted out suddenly, causing the scholars nearest him to turn and gawk. He regarded them with shock, feeling as if he were just possessed by something.

"Erm, excuse me everyone..." He chuckled nervously, trembling from mane to tail. "Just uh...just lamenting over my most recent poker defeat and all...yeah, _ha-ha!_"

They looked at each other, shaking their heads and shrugging, then returned their gaze to the Marker.

Shifting between rubbing his hooves together, and his mane, Hooves glanced sidelong at the table of tools near the marker and its own table. His blue eyes locked onto the rightmost tool with absolute intent.

It was an air-powered drill, originally meant for burrowing through layers, and into the middle of the Marker to take core samples in hopes of learning its mineral composition or perhaps even its inner working. That was before the object had been discovered to be...completely indestructible.

But as far as Hooves was concerned, the instrument would suit him perfectly for what he was about to do.

Getting up with a loud clearing of his throat, the good Doctor casually made his way down to the table, grinning savagely from ear to ear as he went.

It would be so easy, and it would only take but a second. A little price to pay, for greatness. Hooves mused. _They're all so very, very, greedy._

* * *

Dawn arrived like normal. The sunshine filtering through the windows was enough to wake Twilight up from her pleasant dreams, now free of monsters and alien voices from beyond the veil. She yawned lightly and stretched her limbs, then clambered out of bed, shaking off the sleep.

As Twilight raised her hoof to inspect it for the day, her heart almost leapt from nervousness. Her gasp was rewarded with the calming sight of a still normal, healthy limb.

"From now on, I'm wearing a HAZMAT suit before handling this powder." Twilight declared. "If I were to drop a canister, shatter it, and inhale the stuff...well it'd probably do far worse then induce an allergic reaction."

One of the more morbid sections of Twilight mind began conjuring up bizarre images of myriad mutations. Shaking the thoughts off along with the remainder of her torpor, Twilight decided to let Spike sleep in a little more, and she descended down into the cellar once again, adding a protective mask and a bio-suit to her mental checklist of things to procure when she did her shopping later today. True, not a whole lot of shops in Ponyville carried such things, but she'd find one that did, eventually.

She didn't notice as she made her exit, that his small bed was occupied with nothing more than his blanket pulled over a stack of pillows.

It was in the cellar, that she discovered Digger the 'super mole' had escaped. Somehow, the animal had managed to dig his way out of the thick glass, scurry through the lab, and break through the bedrock under the floor, leaving behind a system of tiny tunnels in his wake, as well as a hefty amount of damp soil and rock fragments.

Twilight peered into the small opening with puzzlement.

Meanwhile, the alien spider was still crouched into its posture from when Twilight had last seen it. She added an inspection of it to her checklist as well after her worry had subsided from Digger's escape.

Emerging from the cellar with her mind full to capacity with thoughts, Twilight noticed two things of noteworthiness. First, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were all clustered near her door with their pets Winona, Angel, and Opal. Spike was standing next to them. He waved at Twilight cheerfully as he noticed her gawking at the sky.

The second thing, was that while the Sun had indeed arisen as normal, the Moon was also in its primary location during the middle of the night. But now, it was already mid-morning, and Luna for some reason still hadn't moved it.


	6. Escalation

Canterlot, the night previous...

Celestia's guard retinue stood quietly at their stations around the expansive antechamber of the Royal Canterlot Conservatory. A cloud of pure boredom hung above all, permeating the room almost like a foul, invisible gas.

After two whole days of taking shifts patrolling the same stretch of humid, plant-lined marble space, anything and everything to do with the Conservatory instantly made many of the armored stallions want to yawn and roll their eyes on principle. Indeed, the only breaks to this monotony were the much celebrated 'past times': stuffing one's muzzle with hay fries and donuts, and retiring briefly to nap on one of the many comfortable benches that lined the room.

One such guard had just partaken of the former activity, when he had heard the first of the disturbances from deeper within the building.

It was a bloodcurdling scream, one the stallion prayed he would never have to hear again in his life. The reverberating chorus of ghastly shrieks and shouts that soon followed, sparked the guard and his fellows into action.

With one deft motion, the Princesses' warriors forced the bulky amphitheater doors ajar, and immediately wished they hadn't. The stallion in particular spilled his lunch onto the tiled floor with a vile retching, as the thick wooden doors groaned open and thudded loudly against the stone walls.

In the heart of the room, under the moonlit dome, sheer carnage dominated the scene. A brown-maned earth pony, one whom the guards instantly recognized as Doctor Hooves, stood shaking like a leaf next to a table of tools. His blue eyes were wide and glaring with shock, looking almost like twin copies of the moon shining in the exposed sliver of sky above them.

He held onto an drill between his teeth, the mouth itself pulled into a grimace of disbelief upon his face. Hooves' lab jacket and coat were splattered in blood, as two ponies struggled on the ground near him. A third pony lay dead beside them.

They were all nearest the other table, the one which held the Marker.

One, a pegasus, was sprawled on his back, trying to shield his face with his forelegs and wings. The other pony, a unicorn mare, was atop him. She was assaulting his limbs with a geological hammer she wielded in the air before her, and she had her forelegs pressed to his chest, restraining him.

The diorite mining tool, normally used by earth ponies, was designed to crack through solid granite to extract gemstones, and the hollowed nature of pegasi bone structure yielded no resistance. It slowly shattered with a sickening crunch with each consecutive blow. While the guards rushed forward to intervene, the rest of the scholarly group had merely stood and watched, transfixed and paralyzed with fear at one of their own's sudden turn to savagery.

"Die Changelings, die Changelings, _die Changelings!_" She shouted, over and over again, in between hammer strikes. Doctor Hooves had never even gotten the chance to perform his own intended deed; the unicorn had beaten him to it, appearing out of nowhere. The first one had gone down instantly, her skull caved in by the blunt tool the unicorn wielded. A heartbeat later, she had turned on her pegasi colleague like a rabid beast.

Hooves meanwhile, felt as if he were slowly breaking out of a trance as the drill clattered to the ground loudly. He felt himself growing disoriented. A high frequency ringing began to fill his ears, and his head felt as if it would split open. The air surrounding the Marker's vicinity fluctuated, as if the artifact were 'broadcasting' something.

Guards were surrounding the three now, subduing the rampant scholar, attempting haphazardly to question the Doctor, and keep everyone else away from the gravely wounded pegasus. They were all nearly panicking, eager to get themselves far away as possible from the terrifying scene.

"The ringing, somepony please quiet the Celestia-cursed ringing!" The mare begged with heavy sobs, having dropped her hammer, and now held fast by the guards. "Make it stop...it's in my head." She was in hysterics, spittle flying from her muzzle. "Changelings, monsters, everywhere! Slay them, gotta slay them!"

The mare scanned the room frantically as she was unceremoniously hauled away. At the sides, the crowd of researchers were still filing out in a panicked fervor, while the guards were barely able to maintain order.

"Clean this lot up. Get the Doctor and this pegasus to the nearest hospital, remove the deceased, and have the Marker put under heavy guard until we can inquire Their Majesties as to what we should do!" The Royal Guard officer shouted.

No sooner had the order been uttered, the guards sprung to action. Careful not to slip on the slowly expanding pool of blood across the floor, they carried the pegasi gently out. He moaned and murmured incoherently, his now ruined and bent limbs dangling down uselessly in the air. Hooves himself was no medical doctor, but even he could tell that the pegasus would be lucky to ever walk again, let alone fly. This was assuming he did not die of blood loss.

While Hooves sat on the floor, the guards tried their best to keep him calm, cleaning the blood off of his body and preparing him for departure and questioning. Two unfortunate guards were tasked with cleaning up the blood spilled, as well as carrying out the bludgeoned corpse of the other mare. Another four unicorn guards channeled their spells together, forming a single magical barrier around the Marker.

Hooves felt the ringing abruptly cease as they did this. He sighed, both mentally and literally, in relief. Moments later, he too was lead out of the building. As he passed the corpse, the guards were in the process of laying a sheet over her. Where they had gotten it, Hooves could only guess.

The final observation he made, one that left Hooves feeling paranoid in addition to his existing trauma, was that the mare's exposed leg underneath the sheet seemed to be flexing in short spasms, as if she were still alive. Theories of what this implied or might be foreshadowing, haunted Hooves for hours to come. Discussing it with one of his more medical-oriented colleagues after meeting up with them at the local doughnut shop, they eventually dismissed the spasms merely as the byproduct of remnant chemical processes burning themselves out in the mare's body. As to the mystery of the other unicorn mare's sudden heightened aggression however, none of the ponies who had been present could deduce an answer.

Later on around midnight, when the Moon was the highest in the sky, more violence inexplicably broke out. It started first with those guarding the Marker. Then, like a virus, multiple instances of psychotic rage were reported spreading throughout Canterlot's citizens without any hope of explanation.

* * *

"Hey Twilight! Whatcha looking at?" Spike greeted, a clearly puzzled look on his face.

Twilight took turns staring at him and the odd features in the sky. Shaking her head in disbelief, she looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing out here? And the Moon...don't any of you see? It's not supposed to be high in the sky like that during the day! Something weird is going on with the Princesses, I can just feel it."

Spike waved the others over from the front door as he let out a dismissive chuckle. "Relax, Twilight. I'm sure Princess Luna and Celestia might just be playing a prank on each other, or some kind of silly game, maybe. Alicorns are weird that way."

_Our Tide is coming._

_The Sun's fortress shall sunder at dusk's last light._

Quickly, Twilight shook her head. She was aggressively clearing her mind of the memory of her disturbing nightmare. "Maybe." She murmured back with poorly disguised uncertainty.

For Spike, his friend's vexation was not lost on him. He stammered nervously. "Is this about me waking up and disappearing without leaving a note? Or is something else on your mind?"

Before Twilight could respond, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy joined them at the entrance to the cellar with their respective pets in tow. "Mornin' Twi!" Applejack was the first to speak, smiling warmly. She had Winona at her side, who was panting happily and wagging her tail. "How are you feeling, sugarcube?"

"Hello. I hope that scary rash of yours has gone away." Fluttershy greeted.

"A good morning to you, Twilight!" Rarity sang, stroking her cat's head with the tip of her elegant hoof as he lay on the ground, purring contentedly.

"Good morning girls." Twilight murmured back. Her sense of confusion grew as her overactive mind slowly processed Applejack's question, her friends' combined presence, and Spike's disregard for her authority as of late. "Yeah AJ, it's gone...whatever it was." She held up her foreleg, now perfectly healthy, then waved it and motioned towards the three animals. "What in the world did you bring your pets over here for, though? The park is on the other side of town, remember?'

Applejack stepped up, looking slightly coy with a reasonable amount of concern. "Ah'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Uh, actually, we're not here for a get together or anything, to answer your question though. We were wondering if you'd be willing to see what the alien stuff might do for Winona and Angel here, if you're not too busy and such."

Twilight silently gawked at the trio. Fluttershy smiled nervously back, Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Rarity spoke. "They've seen what it can do for Opal, darling, so it was only fair that I..." Rarity let out a brief giggle. "Well, let the cat out of the bag, as one could put it."

"Spike had so many wonderful things to say about it." Fluttershy threw in. She glared mildly at Angel. "Maybe it could help Angel here to control his mean little temper. Oh, perhaps the little dear will even listen to me more often!"

By now, Twilight's gawking had ceased. She looked down at Angel bunny, who returned her gaze with a saucy narrowing of his beady eyes. He folded his arms across his chest, stamping at the ground impatiently. Twilight glared back, nodded at Fluttershy, who's face lit up with delight, then she turned to peer at Winona and her owner.

"What could you possibly need the powder tested on Winona for? What's wrong with her?"

Applejack prodded at the cut grass uncertainly. "Well, I dunno. Heck, the way Spike was so enthusiastic about, I'm mite curious to see what wonders it might work on her!" She patted Winona affectionately on the head. "Ain't that right, girl?" Winona replied with a lick, then let out a happy bark. "Ya see? Curiosity, it might as well be an Element!" The mare declared jokingly.

Twilight nodded at Applejack as well, but frowned. She dragged Spike off to the side, excusing the two for a moment. The others shrugged and turned their attention to their pets in the meantime.

"What in harmony's name did you tell them, Spike?" She hissed.

"Nothing too fanciful, I swear!" Spike whispered back.

"_Spike!_"

"Okay, okay! I might have...told them the powder was magical and capable of...well, capable of..."

"Of what?" Twilight's eyes narrowed fiercely as she shouted, and she held his shoulders in a vice grip.

"Making whatever thing somepony desired...possible, okay?" Spike relented with a shaky voice.

Judging by her glare, Spike reasoned that Twilight had several choice unpleasant things to say him. Fortunately for his nerves, she dismissed them all with a heavily drawn out groan of frustration. "You told them it can grant _wishes?_" Twilight said incredulously. "Using this powder on living creatures carries risks, Spike. I can't emphasize this fact enough!"

"What's going on here, you two?" Applejack asked out of the blue. The trio had seemed to practically teleport near them. "Are we still going along with the plan to use the powder again?" She eyed the two uncertainly. "Or are things too...Shucks! What's the word Ah'm looking for? Are things too _tense_, right now?"

"Oh no, no, no!" Twilight replied all too quickly, forcing a smile. "Sure, I suppose I can give Angel and Winona a dosage each. But, just this once!"

Fluttershy and Applejack grinned, and leading their pets, they each followed Twilight as she went around and descended into the cellar. Spike, Opal, and Rarity trailed in behind them. Rarity commented on the dreariness of the place, and declared its need for a potential make over to, 'liven it up' as she put it. Spike nodded his head vigorously in agreement, for more reasons than one.

The confined alien greeted them as it registered their presence. Fluttershy almost jumped out of her fur when the spider-like organism leapt against the barrier, facing her direction.

"What in tarnation, did that egg thingy hatch an actual _live_ alien?" Applejack inquired with a mixture of fascination and wonder.

"Yep." Twilight replied, approaching a metal table set up with syringes, a microscope, several other tools, and three neatly stacked powder cylinders. The underground lab's electric arc lamps buzzed quietly above when Twilight turned them on with her horn. Fluttershy, shoving Angel along, dashed over to Twilight's side, eager to be as far from the alien as possible.

"Ugh, a spider, it's positively revolting! Thank heavens its confined behind magic!" Rarity remarked, twitching her muzzle at the alien. Applejack let out a hearty chuckle. She approached the alabaster unicorn, and curled her foreleg around her neck playfully.

"Aw shucks, she looks like she wants a hug, Rare! I think she likes ya!" Rarity stared at her wide eyed, flabbergasted.

Twilight gingerly listened to the pair's banter, and observed the alien, whilst she stood next to Fluttershy and Angel, the former of which had just finally calmed down.

"Alright Fluttershy, go ahead and set Angel down here." She tapped the tabletop gently. Fluttershy nodded, and after a few seconds attempting to catch the rabbit, she succeeded, only via threatening to use her stare. Angel stood next to the syringe, glaring intensely at the both of them.

Twilight wasted no time getting to work administering the powder. The organic particles were so minute, that they flowed into her syringe almost like water. Angel struggled as the needle met his fur, and hopped around with irritation for some time after as the agents coursed through his little veins.

"Hey, where'd Digger run off to?" Spike asked worriedly nearby, while the others joined Twilight in observing the effects of the powder. It was astounding, especially for Fluttershy.

Long gone was the usual snooty, defiant expression Angel bunny seemed to wear by default. He twitched slightly, as if just waking up, then he approached Fluttershy. Instinctively, she held out her hoof to him, and the small mammal nuzzled it affectionately. Fluttershy and Rarity cooed in adoration, and Applejack whistled, impressed. Twilight was equally impressed.

Angel abruptly ceased his nuzzling and looked up at his mistress expectantly. Fluttershy gave him a stern frown. "No, you've had enough carrots today, Angel." Much to her furthered delight, Angel elected to not pout, and cheerfully shrugged. 'Fine by me', he seemed to say.

"Alright, Spike wasn't fibbing. It's Winona's turn now!" Applejack declared, swiftly managing to scoop the fully grown dog up and onto the table. Winona panted happily, looking around at everyone. She was clearly not bothered by her sudden involuntary change of location.

The border colly scarcely even noticed as Twilight stuck the next needle into her fur, introducing the alien powder into a canine for the first time. Almost immediately, the magically-modified powder got to work making alterations. Winona's fur grew even shinier and silkier than before, her tail wagged with a renewed fervor, and overall she seemed as if she had enough physical energy to outlast even the likes of Pinkie Pie.

While Twilight eagerly got to work recording the exciting new observations, the others, along with Spike, chatted and gave the animals close examinations, remarking on the pleasant new changes. Like most conversations, the main topic shifted over time.

"Say, I haven't seen such pleasant fur since my last visit to a Canterlot spa." Rarity enthused, scrutinizing Winona.

"Yeah, Winona sure looks all the better for it. Now she'll be twice as efficient keeping the cows and other critters in line!" Applejack agreed, beaming with pride.

"Speaking of Canterlot, have either of you heard some of the strange rumors coming out of there last night? I've heard there's been rioting in places, somepony may have gotten hurt pretty bad! Ponies are acting strangely towards one another." Fluttershy said, growing more distressed as she recalled what some of the traveling merchants had told her an hour ago.

"Rioting...in _Canterlot?_" Rarity asked in disbelief. "Not at all possible, darling, surely!"

"Maybe whoever ya talked to might have been have had a bit too much hard cider, sugarcube." Applejack interjected.

"Oh no, the stallion looked quite sober to me, girls." Fluttershy replied with worry.

"What do you think, Twilight?" Rarity said. Not expecting to be called upon, Twilight whirled around in surprise, dropping her inkwell, quill, and parchment onto the ground. She let out a squeak as she discovered ink spilled on her otherwise immaculately-kept lavender fur. "Oh, sorry dear!" Rarity added.

"About what?" Twilight asked quickly, fussing over the mess.

"Why, the Canterlot riot rumors, of course!"

"Rumors are rumors." Twilight replied simply. She finally cleaned up the spilled ink, and neatly replaced the quill and parchment. "Something weird might be going on with Celestia and Luna, but rioting? There are very few ponies left in this land who even still have the stomach to try such things."

Thankfully, her written observations were left intact from the spill. Twilight gratefully scratched off one thing from her mental list of worries. "Now," She said. "I've got some shopping to do, girls. Clearly, I'm allergic to this stuff." She levitated one of the cylinders in the air. "So, I'm gonna go check the nearest military surplus store to see if they have any of them masks or chemsuits the Army used to wear in gas attacks, you know, during the Changeling War."

"You sure you're really willing to wear some...moldy..._ugly_...old combat suit...in the name of science, darling?" Rarity asked slowly, with mounting disbelief.

"Yes, in the name of science, Rarity." Twilight answered back, making her way out of the cellar. "C'mon Spike, I could use your help. Feel free to come with if you'd like, girls. Maybe we can all stop to get some lunch later."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Applejack said jovially.

"Sure, just let me stop at the cottage to drop off Angel." Fluttershy agreed.

"Digger better pop up again soon!" Spike muttered to himself under his breath. The dragon was theorizing that Twilight might have hidden his new pet in retaliation for his sneakiness.

"I'll go and see if Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie would be interested as well, it is a pleasant day after all! I'll just have to get Opalescence back to the Boutique first." Rarity agreed as well, following Spike and the rest hurriedly out, putting as much distance as possible from herself and the creepy arachnid-like alien with the segmented tail, laying in the now vacant cellar.

Twilight followed after Rarity, after closing the cellar doors firmly shut. She didn't expect anyone to come blundering in and trespassing, so she didn't lock it.

No sooner had the party left on their way to their various destinations around Ponyville, a uniformed aquamarine pegasus arrived and touched down on the lawn of the Library.

A package was laden carefully in her hooves, and she grasped onto it as she peered around at her surroundings. She wore her goggles below her fine amber mane, and her silver armor denoted her as a Royal Courier. Quite unlike most Couriers however, who were renowned for their beaming smiles as their clients opened the door, this one donned an impatient sneer as she knocked on the door.

"Hey! I have a package for a miss Twilight Sparkle, open up!"

Thirty seconds passed with no activity, then the pegasus mare rapped on the door once more, this time with greater force. There was still no response.

Lighting Dust growled in anger. Her superiors had been quite clear in their orders. The delivery: cylinders full of what Lightning assumed to be some kind of weird snow or something, were top secret. That meant that only Twilight Sparkle was allowed to receive, and sign for, the package.

With the unicorn gone, it wasn't as if Lightning Dust could simply leave them on Twilight's front stoop.

It was her understanding, that Sparkle kept a laboratory in her cellar. "What a giant egghead." The Courier said scornfully. "She's probably hunched around down there, tinkering with some useless gizmo, thinking her brains are SO useful to society!"

"Sure, my ass!" Lightning Dust went around to the cellar door, tested it, and found it to be unlocked. Opening the door, careful not to drop the pair of cylinders, she descended into the poorly lit basement. "Sparkle, priority package delivery for you! Hello?" She shouted.

Only silence greeted her. With another growl, she descended down, and looked around. Seeing that nopony was present, Lightning elected to set the cylinders down on the nearest table. With that done, she took a moment to reflect on her life situation.

How did she end up going from Wonderbolt's candidate...to a lowly Courier? True, the Royal Courier Service was a renowned establishment, but Lightning Dust was forced to serve in the lowliest ranks, having been demoted time and time again for her consistent recklessness and lack of courtesy. "Rainbow Dash." The name almost made her want to retch in disgust. In her eyes, the pegasus mare was the root of everything wrong in her life. "Sparkle's a friend of hers, isn't she? Now I hate her absent ass twice as much."

For a second, the pegasus' curiosity was ignited by movement nearby, and her intense spite for the other pegasus and all she surrounded herself with was momentarily forgotten. "What was that?"

Lightning Dust inched her way slowly across the room, approaching a large cylindrical energy barrier. She almost had a heart attack when something inside the barrier jumped out at her, attaching itself to the surface.

"What the fuck is that?"

In her panic, Lightning felt herself trip over something. It was the wire hooked up to the power source Twilight had left running. The pegasus inadvertently disconnected the source's connection between itself and the containment unit, releasing the organism.

Wasting no time, the alien sprung into action, anxious to finally fulfill its biological purpose after years trapped in stasis. Before Lightning Dust could fully realize what was happening, it had already latched itself tightly to her face. Her screams were muffled as she flared her wings, attempting to pry the hostile organism off. It clamped its eight legs around her head tightly on both sides, and it circled her neck with its lengthy tail.

Lightning felt something thick and slimy force its way past her muzzle and down her throat, preventing her from calling for help. With her vision obscured by the alien's body, she felt herself growing numb, no doubt thanks to the activities of her extraterrestrial assailant. The fact that she could still draw breath shocked her. It was one of her final thoughts before she finally slipped into unconsciousness in a heartbeat.

It didn't take long. The alien promptly fell off of her head after several moments, cold and still. It's purpose had been served, and its duty to the future queen fulfilled.

The pegasus came to with a groan soon after. Lightning Dust looked down at the withered husk of the alien in horror. She didn't feel quite right as she reeled back from it with disgust and revulsion. Sensing that she still had enough strength for flight, she quickly fled the cellar and took to the skies, heading straight for Cloudsdale as fast as she could manage.

* * *

A thousand miles away from Ponyville, Daring Do and a hoof-picked crew of archaeologists stood in front of what appeared to be a large stasis pod, deep within the cavernous bowels of the Badlands Alien Shipwreck.

They had finally gotten around to exploring the engineering bay, and the other decks beyond. For Daring, this part was the most exciting. She was anticipating to find crew quarters, a cryostasis bay, perhaps even intact specimens of the crew itself. While none of the latter had been found or confirmed yet, her efforts were not all fruitless.

The stasis pods were clearly occupied. Moreover, whatever was inside was massive, and was still alive, if the green floating light above the unit was anything to consider.

First Contact with an alien species was now inevitable, and while Daring Do normally preferred to work alone, even this entire project had proven from the start to be too big, even for her, to carry out alone.

Before she and her colleagues set about finding a way to open the pod properly without breaking something or harming the being inside, Daring looked down at the small vial of luminescent liquid hanging from her neck, holding the necklace in her hoof. It was pretty, and Daring Do had decided to turn it into a form of decorative pendant to wear. She consulted the lambent-like fluid, swirling it around and preparing her mind for the single greatest moment in Equestrian history.

The other ponies looked at her expectantly and anxiously, tools and writing implements ready.

"Alright everypony, let's awaken the hushed casket, shall we? Pop em' open!"


End file.
